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Meet the VELTINS-Arena…. in lego!

Young man, big stage: Schalke fan and lego enthusiast Joe Bryant has brought the VELTINS-Arena into the miniature world by designing and building a model version of Schalke’s home stadium. The nine year-old, from Ipswich in England, is meticulous and thorough in his work, and the stands, the video screen and the retractable roof are all included. Joe first revealed his amazing work on Twitter in January.

It was never going to be long before Joe Bryant came to the attention of Schalke 04 and was invited to bring his mini masterpiece into the real VELTINS-Arena. Before Saturday’s game with Hertha Berlin, Joe also received an exclusive tour of the stadium – which he names as his favourite in the Bundesliga and was then given the chance to present his work to 60,000 fans inside the Royal Blues’ home.

Speaking to Dirk Oberschulte-Beckmann on the pitch ahead of Saturday’s match, a conversation streamed live on the big screen, Joe stated that he had begun building with lego at the age of five. “The VELTINS-Arena took me about a week to complete,” he said, adding: “the biggest challenge was building the retractable roof.”

Joe’s interests go further than just architecture, however. His biggest goal in life is to become a professional footballer and he enjoyed greatly watching Schalke beat Hertha later that afternoon and understandly went home very happy. “Thank you so much for this brilliant day,” wrote Joe’s family after an unforgettable day out in Gelsenkirchen to see the Royal Blues live.